


Miracle Aligner

by flamingosarepink



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M, Rekindling, Sort of a song fic?, Unbeta'd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 17:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamingosarepink/pseuds/flamingosarepink
Summary: What rouses Iker from his slumber is the sound of the doorbell ringing echoing through his ears. He lays on the couch for a few more minutes, hoping who ever is at the door will go away after having not gotten an answer although they don’t. The doorbell rings again, and Iker almost stomps his way to the door.





	Miracle Aligner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SixPonderous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SixPonderous/gifts).



> Very loosely based off of the song Miracle Aligner by The Last Shadow Puppets. This fic was sort of just sitting in Word waiting to be posted, then I was convinced to post it.

David wasn’t even at Real Madrid for very long, but they were probably the longest 4 years of Iker’s life and if he had known that it would have gotten to this point, he might never have even bothered with getting stuck this deep in love with someone. It’s all over the press- David Beckham is leaving to MLS -to Los Angeles- with much fanfare. Iker can’t handle the fact that this is all in the aftermath of a difficult match after which while being almost being left behind due to being late back to the bus, David kissed him in the darkness of the empty locker room and promised him he wasn’t leaving. What a pity Iker had actually believed him, what a pity that he had even a shred of hope that this wouldn’t be happening.

But this announcement that just came out? It sends Iker over the edge. The Spaniard is burying his face into a couch pillow after having turned the TV off. He can’t really handle watching it right now, and given his terrible mood sleep comes almost stupidly easy. It’s all he really cares to do at the moment, and it’s surprising given the fact that all he can do is think about how weird it’s going to be not seeing David at training every morning. If he really gathers his thoughts and thinks about it, this is David’s last day in Madrid. 

They should be spending it together, yet here Iker is squandering precious time they don’t have by avoiding David. It almost feels shameful and he can’t help but mentally scold himself for it. 

_Way to show him how much he means to you._

Iker groans, wishing he’d taken the liberty to turn off the lights before he’d decided to crash out. All he wants is the peace and comfort of the darkness that’s enshrining the outside world as day turns to evening. 

\- - - 

What rouses Iker from his slumber is the sound of the doorbell ringing echoing through his ears. He lays on the couch for a few more minutes, hoping who ever is at the door will go away after having not gotten an answer although they don’t. The doorbell rings again, and Iker almost stomps his way to the door. He doesn’t mean it in his current pained state of being, but he wants nothing to do with the outside world at the moment and whoever is at the door is about to get an earful. Hopefully it’s not one of his teammates, he _REALLY_ hopes it’s not Sergio and that cheerful new Brazilian kid that he seems so taken with… Marcelo is his name, Iker recalls as he swings the door open. Who ever is standing there is about to get an earful. 

Iker’s eyes are not on the face of the person at the door. “You have some nerve showing up at my door when I thought I made myself clear I didn’t want to talk-“

“I’m sorry you feel that way. Should I go, maybe?” 

Iker’s heart plummets as the voice speaks. As he looks up slowly, he immediately regrets his choice of words. David’s kind eyes are looking back at him, and Iker can’t help but avert his gaze downwards as he steadies himself in the doorway with a hand on the frame. This reaction makes David feel a pang of thickness in his throat, but nothing else. Maybe coming to Iker’s place was a bad idea, but he felt compelled to come. He couldn’t really leave Madrid without saying goodbye, or making sure Iker was okay. David really didn’t think Iker would take it quite this hard- but maybe that his fault for underestimating Iker’s feelings. 

The Spaniard steps back to let David inside, and after the door is shut and locked he probably does one of the most risky things he’s ever done. There’s a clash of lips and tugging of shirts and shirt collars, shirts and hems. Iker’s fingers seem suddenly sewn into David’s shirt collar when the other man finally pulls back after they’ve miraculously made it up the stairs. The two of them were never ones to move fast with this relationship -or what’s left of it now- when they thought they had all the time in the world. There were plenty of almost moments- almost kisses, almost being caught pressed against the wall in the locker room but Iker is having none of it. David feels the desperation in Iker’s shaking hands and the strong arms David has wrapped around Iker just seem to scream _Whatever you need.. i’ll give it to you._ That seems to be all the encouragement the two of them need, and after they’ve made it to the bed David makes a mental note to never forget the way Iker’s eyelashes flutter shut in ecstasy as he’s kissing at his jawline and neck with wandering hands. 

When Iker wakes up the next morning still tangled in sheets, David is already gone and all that remains is David’s white button down shirt carelessly thrown over a chair. Iker doesn’t know it yet, but a similar shirt is gone from his own closet yet he doesn’t figure this out until he’s packing for the next away match. Surprisingly it goes well, the team wins and Iker keeps a clean sheet. Meanwhile, David is being unveiled at his new club.

Many years later, David is doing press at an event for the Galaxy sometime after he’s retired and someone dares to ask him about Iker. “ Of course I love him,” He says, remembering his last night in Madrid which seems like a far-flung memory now. There’s a pang of pain in his heart, and he can’t help but let out a breath he found he’s been holding. As if it took him this long to feel homesickness.. homesickness is missing a place, not a person. But in this case, anywhere he had gone with Iker felt like home. 

\- - - - - - 

Flowers seem to be littering Iker’s home, now in Porto. It’s not that he hates flowers, but everything seems so bittersweet. He always used to think that he was going to stay and retire at Madrid, that he’d go out with all the fanfare reserved for club legends yet somehow that didn’t happen. He isn’t quite sure where things went wrong, although maybe it happened somewhere along the way when Mourinho was manager of the club. Iker had placed it in the same league as a relationship gone bad in some interview he gave what seems like ages ago, and maybe that was a befitting analogy. Calls have been coming in and out all day from his various friends and teammates, including those he had at Madrid. He accepts them all with an anxious smile and small chuckle, adding in a thank you at the end. 

A few hours after the last phone call, his phone rings again. He answers it with a heavy sigh. 

“Hello?”

“ Hello, Iker. It’s David.” This voice earns a smile, albeit a longing smile that comes along with remembering a distant memory. Given the length of time it’s been since Iker last heard from David, it warrants in this situation. “You know i’m proud of you, right?”

“Thank you.” The answer is simple, and there’s a little bit more grumpiness to his tone than Iker intends. Maybe he should have expected that David would call. 

“How are you doing?” David knew from his answer that the other man wasn’t keen on talking too much about the current state of things- he imagines that Iker is sad the club he’s retiring at isn’t the one he’d always imagined himself playing for his whole life.

“Alright, considering things. It feels like the right time you know? I figured I should go out now while people still remember me favorably.” David can’t help but smile from the other end of the phone. They talk back and forth about various different things, mostly about David’s life in LA. he mentions how different it is from everywhere else that he’s ever known, and Iker responds with a humming noise. At least Porto isn’t that far away from home, Iker reasons. He still hasn’t decided where he’s going after this; if he’s staying here in Porto or going home to Madrid. That comes up somewhere in the conversation when David asks, although the next thing that he says is surprising and Iker is definitely not expecting it. 

“ Come visit me in LA. You’re probably wanting some time away from everything, and you could think about what you’re going to do about your living situation while you’re here.” 

Iker chuckles. Somehow David has managed to sucker him into visiting him, visiting a country he’s never even thought about visiting till now.

Plans are made, and a week later Iker arrives in LA feeling jet lagged from his trip and wanting nothing more than to sleep. Despite the sea of people, David picks him out easily from where he’s standing by the car he arranged to pick up Iker.

The hug the both of them share curbside is the first they’ve shared with each other in years, and Iker can’t really help but hide his face in David’s neck as those comforting arms he remembers from that last night in Madrid wrap around him. 

Hours after leaving the airport and after a trip to David’s to drop off Iker’s things, they take a walk around town. Iker’s first day there is a whirlwind of experiences. David is humored when he finds out Iker hates the food and hates the beer even more even though it’s almost no surprise. But the way Iker nearly leans on him in a way reserved for people who are a couple. It’s the most Iker does out in public in a city he feels out of place in, but David supposes they don’t have to hide anymore when he dares to hold Iker’s hand which _definitely_ earns a shy smile out of the other man. Yet, it helps him feel just a little bit less out of place in this strange city that’s worlds away from everywhere he’s ever known.


End file.
